Ski arena

ABSTRACT

A skiing facility having a snow surface which may be cooled by means disposed beneath said surface, and having down-slope and up-slope areas interconnected by an intermediate transition portion with a building facility at the end of the up-slope area, said skiing area having guard rails along the sides thereof with a ski lift disposed along at least one of said sides for transporting skiers from said intermediate portion to the top of the down-slope area.

United States Patent [191 Wiig [ June 11, 1974 SKI ARENA [76] Inventor: Erling Ostratt Wiig, 1291 Oakland Blvd., Walnut Creek, Calif. 94546 [22] Filed: Nov. 24, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 309,144

[52] US. Cl 272/3, 62/235, 104/69, 272/565 SS [51] Int. Cl. A63g 21/00, A63j 3/00 [58] Field of Search 272/565 SS, 56.5 R, 3, 272/4; l04/69, 70, 173 ST, 53, 173, 134,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3l8,025 5/1885 Pusey l04/69 318,026 5/1885 Pusey.... 104/69 l,37l,887 3/1921 Gass 104/69 2,254,482 9/l94l Heller 272/565 R 2,766,046 l0/l956 Skrainka 272/3 3,250,530 5/l966 Dean et al. 272/565 SS X FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 183,112 4/l907 Germany 62/235 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant ExaminerArnold W. Kramer Attorney, Agent, or FirmBruce & McCoy [57] ABSTRACT v A skiing facility having a snow surface which may be cooled by means disposed beneath said surface, and having down-slope and up-slope areas interconnected by an intermediate transition portion with a building facility at the end of the up-slope area, said skiing area having guard rails along the sides thereof with a ski lift disposed along at least one of said sides for transporting skiers from said intermediate portion to the top of the down-slope area.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PA'fEN'TEBaum 1 1914 sum 10? 2 FIG. 4

SKI ARENA BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a skiing facility and more particularly to an outdoor sloped area having cooling means for keeping a snow skiing surface cold with a down-slope area having an up-slope area at the bottom thereof adjacent to a facilities building.

2. Description of the Prior Art The present invention is related somewhat to an ice skating rink which utilizes cooling tubes and refrigeration for the purpose of forming frozen surface for ice skating. Unfortunately a facility of that type cannot be used for skiing since it does not have a sloped skiing area and the ice is too slick for skiing.

There have been skiing facilities produced for practicing and learning skiing which involve a ramp area utilizing crushed ice on the ramp. The problem with the crushed ice arrangement is that it melts too quickly or can only be used in a cold area. Secondly, it is generally not big enough for proper skiing since it is usually quite narrow and short because of the cost in keeping crushed ice on it. Alternatively, large crushed ice skiing areas are too expensive to operate. Also tried have been ramps covered with plastic grass mats which uniquely have a texture which approximates skiing to a person sliding down them on skis. The problem with the ramped grass mats is that they are very dangerous when one falls on them since they are not soft; they have an open weave and this weave usually includes a metal backing to hold the grass bristles in the vertical clump. The danger of the open weave to someone falling on it has caused this idea to fall into nearly complete disuse despite its promising beginning. The only persons using these ramps were beginners and they were always falling. The further problems with plastic mats is that in warm weather, the plastic loses its stiff bristle-like texture whereby it no longer provides good skiing surface. Plastic powder and reverse moving platforms covered with matting have also been tried with poor results.

The problem with small area skiing facilities is that they usually must use the natural terrain of the ground and this most often does not include the most desirable features which could be built into a facility using a completely structured or tailored terrain. The present invention provides an optimum type of terrain for the skiing facility to obtain maximum usage and enjoyment by the skier.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a ski arena and it comprises a first slope portion which forms the skiing down-slope. A second slope portion is disposed at the lower end of the first slope portion and slopes toward the first slope portion thereby forming an up-slope. An intermediate portion disposed between the two sloped portions forms a transitionary portion to permit skiing from the down-slope onto the up-slope.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An important object in the present invention is to provide a skiing surface of snow which will not immediately melt because it is artificially cooled from beneath to maintain its texture.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ski arena which has a relatively steep skiing surface for skiing down with an up-slope disposed at the bottom of the down-slope area to provide a stopping and feeder slope to a skier elevator or lift.

A further object of the present invention is to provide up-slope stopping to permit the ski area to have a very short run-out at the bottom of the down-slope for space saving.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a ski slope which permits skiing downhill from a level of a facilities building to an uphill ski lift which carries the skier to the top of the down-slope.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a facilities building adjacent to a skiing area which has a level which opens onto the skiing area and can be used for all purposes connected with a recreational skiing area and houses the refrigeration equipment.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a ski arena which has two different slopes for the beginning skier; one of a relatively gentle slope for initial balance learning and a steeper slope for more prolonged skiing to learn turns and control.

And yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a ski arena which can be operated in a moderate climate without the snow surface melting quickly away whereby a larger skiing surface can be used in a moderate temperature area.

Further objects of the invention will be come apparent when the preferred embodiment is considered in connection with the following drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lay-out of the present invention;

FIG. 2is a side elevation representation in section of the ski arena of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the lay-out plan view of the representation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation in section of the skiing surface of the ski arena of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a broken out side elevation of the skiing surface of the ski arena of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The ski arena of the present invention is shown in perspective view in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The area is provided with parking spaces 11 around the facility and the skiing surface 13 is disposed to the rear of the facilities building 15. Preferably the facility is enclosed and has a roof, but it can be an open arena and is shown that way to facilitate the present disclosure. A fence or wall 17 surrounds the skiing area for the purpose of keeping out non-paying persons and to prevent wind from blowing across the skiing surface and evaporating the snow which forms the skiing surface. The entrance to the skiing area is through the front of the facilities building and out from the rear of the building onto the skiing surface.

The skiing area has a surface formed of snow 19, which may be pulverized, chip, or crushed ice, or natural or artificial flake snow or the like. Those particles can be transported in from an independent source and spread on the surface, or block ice can be fed through a shredder or chipper which spews the ice across the surface as the spreader moves down the skiing surface. Alternatively, the skiing area could be provided with compressed air and water jets which would blow supercooled water under pressure out into the air, and if the air is cold enough it would freeze the water and form snow which would fall on the skiing surface.

If the skiing slope is completely covered, pulverized ice could be transported in screw conveyors from the refrigeration room to the hoppers disposed over the skiing surface and forced by blowers over the skiing area. Alternatively, snow making machines could be supported in the roof structure.

Cooling coils 21, as shown in FIG. 4, are provided for circulating a super-cooled brine water mixture or other refrigerant liquids such as freon, etc. which keep the crushed ice surface from melting due to the air temperature above the crushed ice. The air over the crushed ice surface being enclosed by the walls of the ski arena would tend to keep a layer of cold air just above the crushed ice to prevent warm air from penetrating down and cooling or warming the ice to melt it.

The crushed ice is separated from the cooling coils by a wire mesh screen 23 which is laid over the cooling coils during construction of the ski arena. The cooling tubes are ballasted in frozen rock particles 25. These rock particles could be either pebbles or crushed rock or other particulate rock matter which would provide the base for the cooling coils and would be frozen to further transmit the cooling effect to the snow above. The rock particles would be frozen as a result of the melting snow penetrating down into the crushed rock and being frozen by the cooling coils. An end-view of the cooling coils is shown in FIG. of the drawings.

The skiing area is divided into first, second, and intermediate portions. The first portion 27 is a down-slope which forms the major portion of the skiing area. The down-slope has a grade between 5 and degrees in pitch, and in the preferred embodiment, the optimum pitch is approximately 7 degrees of down-slope.

All of the three skiing area portions, the down-slope, the second and the intermediate, are generally the same width except for the down-slope area wherein the ski lift 29 or elevator is located which narrows the ski area by that amount. For practical considerations, these areas are between 50 and 200 feet wide but with the optimum size having an approximate width of 100 feet. The down-slope could have a varying width, but wideness at the top would be inefficient because most skiers would start down the slope from near the ski lift discharge. At the bottom, the skiers would crowd to the ski lift intake. Unless double ski lifts were used, the only efficiency of varying width would result with a wider middle to the down-slope.

The length of the down-slope or first portion of the ski area is between 100 and 500 feet long. The shorter lengths of down-slopes would be necessary where the underlying natural terrain is relatively flat and it would be expensive to build a high structure to support the slope. However, longer slopes could be utilized where the natural terrain is sloping down toward the bottom of the ski arena. This would permit a longer ski run which would be limited simply by the cost of the installation of the cooling pipes and the surrounding ambiant temperatures which if they were relatively cool would help delay the melting of the snow whereby longer slopes would not be impracticable.

The second portion 31 of the ski area is disposed at the lower end of the first, or down-slope, portion. The second portion slopes toward the first portion thereby forming an up-slope which has its lower end proximate the lower end of the down-slope area. The up-slope area has a grade of between 2 and-5 degrees pitch and in the preferred embodiment has a slope of approximately 3 degrees. The up-slope area is between 50 and 100 feet long, as a practical matter, and in the preferred embodiment is in the neighborhood of 70 feet lon A n intermediate portion 33 of the ski area is disposed between the sloped portions and forms a transition area to permit skiing from the down-slope onto the up-slope. This intermediate portion is generally level and between 20 and 50 feet in length. In the preferred embodiment, it is approximately feet long. This area is also used for teaching basic techniques before the sloped areas are tackled by the beginner.

These three separate portions of the skiing area are represented in FIG. 2 for purposes of illustrating proportion and relation to each other. They are shown in side elevation in representative cross-section as a down-slope portion which transitions through the intermediate portion into the up-slope portion disposed at the lower end of the skiing slope.

Guard rails 35' are provided along the sides of the skiing area and these have curved rubber bumpers 37 at the lower edges thereof where the skiing surface contacts or abuts the guard rail. The skiing surface can also be contoured to bank up to the guard rail. This design permits the skier to come close to or strike the sidewall of the skiing area and be turned back onto the skiing surface by the concave surface of these guard rails if the angle of contact is not too great. This also protects the edges of the skis from being scratched or damaged as would occur from striking a relatively immovable stone wall.

A ski lift or elevator 29 is disposed along one side of the first portion of the ski area to transport skiers from the intermediate portion, or the level area at the bottom of the down-slope, to the top end of the skiing area. This ski lift can take many forms as are presently used for transporting skiers up a hill, but because of the gentleness of the slope, it can also be somewhat in the nature of a flat conveyor mat onto which a skier could step and be transported to the top of the slope. It could also be a rope tow, a T-bar, J-bar, chair or other similar lift as are used for transporting skiers to the top of a hill.

A facilities building 15 is preferably disposed at the end of the second portion or at the top of the up-slope. It could be on the side or at the top of the down-slope, but that would require a suitable terrain slope. The building has a level 39, or a floor, which opens onto or forms part of the top of the up-slope. This permits skiers to put on their skis in the facilities building and walk out right onto the top of the up-slope which is a fairly gentle slope, and ski down to the bottom of the ski elevator. The facilities building can include a restaurant, ski rental area, sports equipment sales, restroom facilities, dressingroom and changing facilities, classroom facilities, and any number of other services for the customers.

In the basement portion of the facilities building could be located the refrigeration system for pumping the coolants through the coils which keep the frozen crushed ice or snow from melting. Conversely, this refrigeration equipment could be stored or placed under the down-slope area of the ski facility if it is necessary to build a supporting structure to provide the hill in an area where the ground is generally quite level. This would lessen the required size of the facilities building.

A viewing balcony 41, or spectators ramp, could also be made a part of the enclosure walls at the lower end of the down-slope. Such could extend outwards from the facilities building whereby people could walk out onto these overhanging balconies, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for the purpose of watching the skiers on the hill. The balconies could extend to the top of the downslope to permit skiers to walk between the building and the top of the skiing hill.

The particular configuration of the present invention has several advantages permitting a unique and most optimum facility for the beginning skier. When a skier first emerges from the facilities building, he is on a very gentle slope on which he can acquaint himself with the skis and obtain his balance. In addition, he can then walk back up the slope and ski back down it until he further gains his balance. Once he reaches the bottom of the lower slope, he can walk over on the flat intermediate area to the ski elevator and ride to the top of the down-slope. He then can ski down the long down-slope, practicing turns, stopping, and all other necessary elements of learning to ski.

When a skier has skied down the slope and across the flat intermediate portion, he will ski up the up-slope which will tend to help him slow down and stop. After he had stopped, he simply makes a U-turn and skis back down the up-slope portion to the bottom of the ski elevator. This arrangement prevents skiers from feeling that they all have to ski right to the bottom of the elevator so they dont have to walk across the flat or intermediate portion to the elevator. They can now ski up the up-slope and then back down that side of the ski area over to the elvator, rather than all funneling in on the down-slope to one point; they can come from several directions.

It is obvious from this description of the preferred embodiment of the invention that it will perform all the objects attributable thereto. While the preferred em bodiment has been described indetail, it is not to be limited to such details except as may be necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A ski arena comprising a skiing area having a surface formed of snow supported by wire mesh screen having cooling tubes disposed beneath said screens ballasted in frozen rock particles, said skiing area being divided into first, second, and intermediate portions, said first portion being approximately 250 feet long by approximately feet wide, having a slope of approximately 7 degrees and forming a downslope for the skiing area,

said second area being approximately 35 feet long by approximately 100 feet wide, having a slope of approximately 3 degrees, and forming an upslope for the skiing area,

said intermediate area being approximately 30 feet long by approximately 100 feet wide and generally level forming an interconnection between the bottom of said up-slope and said down-slope to permit skiing from the down-slope onto the up-slope,

guard rails along the sides of the skiing area having curved rubber bumpers at the lower edges thereof where the skiing surface contacts the guard rail,

a ski lift disposed along at least one side of said first portion to transport skiers from the intermediate portion of said ski area to the top end of said downslope, and

a facilities building disposed at the end of said second portion of the ski area with a level thereof opening onto the top of said up-slope. 

1. A ski arena comprising a skiing area having a surface formed of snow supported by wire mesh screen having cooling tubes disposed beneath said screens ballasted in frozen rock particles, said skiing area being divided into first, second, and intermediate portions, said first portion being approximately 250 feet long by approximately 100 feet wide, having a slope of approximately 7 degrees and forming a down-slope for the skiing area, said second area being approximately 35 feet long by approximately 100 feet wide, having a slope of approximately 3 degrees, and forming an up-slope for the skiing area, said intermediate area being approximately 30 feet long by approximately 100 feet wide and generally level forming an interconnection between the bottom of said up-slope and said down-slope to permit skiing from the down-slope onto the upslope, guard rails along the sides of the skiing area having curved rubber bumpers at the lower edges thereof where the skiing surface contacts the guard rail, a ski lift disposed along at least one side of said first portion to transport skiers from the intermediate portion of said ski area to the top end of said down-slope, and a facilities building disposed at the end of said second portion of the ski area with a level thereof opening onto the top of said up-slope. 